For bodybuilders, lats are a common weak point and this is for 2 main reasons:
- Incorrect form that causes their biceps, upper back and rear shoulder to take and support most of the load
- Compared to the other muscle groups in their body, you can’t actually see your lats as you are training them making it sometimes difficult to build a strong mind-muscle connection
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I want to share with you four of my most highly effective back training tips that you can start using right away to be on the road of increasing your lat stimulation and growth.
These tips can be applied to both of your primary lat exercises that you’ll end up performing at the gym: pullups/pulldowns and rows
Big lats can and will go a long way when it comes to enhancing your upper body width and thickness. So many sure you pay close attention while I discuss these tips.
Back Training Tip #1
Always retract your shoulder blades. Every single lat movement you do should start off with the shoulder blades pinched together slightly. Doing so will increase activation in your lats while performing the exercise.
Back Training Tip #2
Arch that lower back. Maintain a small arch in your lower back and while doing so be sure to puff out your chest. Again, this will decline the involvement of surrounding muscles and shoot that stress onto your lat muscles.
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Back Training Tip #3
Pull through your elbows. Close your eyes and see you forearms/wrists/hands simply as ‘hooks’ that are attaching you to the weight. Okay, now focus on moving the weight using only your elbows.
When your pulling through with your hands and forearms, you end up bring your biceps into a huge degree. This is one of the most common lat training mistakes that about 90% of lifters make.
Do you ever tend to take notice after a set of pull ups or pull does that you end up with a huge pump in your biceps? This is actually because they are the ones doing majority of the work, while your lats are receiving very little stimulation from the exercise. Another tip you can use to limit the amount of involvement of the biceps even further and gain more build to your lats is to use lifting straps for all of your back exercises you perform. Doing so will almost entirely eliminate your grip from the equation and allow you to focus completely on the lats throughout the exercise.
Back Training Tip #4
Pull the weight at an angle instead of straight up and down While pulling the bar, cable or dumbbell straight up and down, you end up mainly hitting your upper back and rear shoulders. To target the flats specifically you want to be sure to do the following.
- For rowing movements Keep that torso slightly more upright, so about 45 degrees, and pull the bar towards your waist rather than your stomach.
- For pullups/pulldowns Lean back and pull the bar into your upper chest.
So here it is. The 4 simple changes that you can easily master in a matter of minutes and instantly increase the stimulation being brought to your lats, build larger lats and get a thicker, wider upper body in the results as well. So go ahead and start applying these tips I provided you with today immediately to your next workout and makes sure you’re always practicing any and all safety measure to prevent any injury to your body.
